On Saturday, August 7th, shortly before midnight, Santa Cruz County Sheriffs began to awaken and arrest constitutional lawyer Edward Frey as he slept on the plaza of the County Courthouse. It was the 35th consecutive night of Santa Cruz Peace Camp 2010, a demonstration against the Santa Cruz Sleeping Ban, officially known as M.C. 6.36.010, which makes it a crime to sleep outdoors in Santa Cruz, with or without bedding, at any time between the hours of 11pm to 8:30am.

Frey, and others who have been arrested at Santa Cruz Peace Camp 2010, was not charged with violating M.C. 6.36.010, the city law which the demonstration targets. Instead, Santa Cruz County Sheriffs are citing and arresting people for allegedly violating California Penal Code Section 647(e), an anti-vagrancy statute which dates back to slavery laws.

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A violation of 647(e) is a disorderly conduct misdemeanor for every person "who lodges in any building, structure, vehicle, or place, whether public or private, without the permission of the owner or person entitled to the possession or in control of it."

After the U.S. Civil War, the South passed Black Codes, laws that tried to control freed black slaves. Vagrancy laws were included in these codes. Homeless unemployed black Americans were arrested and fined as vagrants. Usually, the person could not afford the fine, and so was sent to county labor or hired out to a private employer.

Santa Cruz County Sheriffs distributed warnings on sheets of 8.5 x 11 paper, sans letter heading or signature, that states in all capital letters, "You are lodging here without the permission of the owner or the person entitled to control the property. Therefore, you are in violation of California Penal Code Section 647(e), a misdemeanor. If you continue to lodge here, you will be cited and/or arrested for this violation. This action is not intended to interfere with your non-lodging demonstration during business hours. Lodging at any time will not be tolerated."

The citations and arrests lasted until nearly 6:00am on Sunday morning. Peace Camp demonstrators say that despite their lack sleep and ongoing law enforcement actions by Santa Cruz County Sheriff Phil Wowak's deputies, they will continue to challenge laws making it illegal for people experiencing homelessness to sleep at night in Santa Cruz.

The police, courts and politicians, backed by merchants, would like for the demonstration to go away. They prefer to point to the services offered within Santa Cruz, even though those services, such as shelter space, are unavailable to the vast majority of people experiencing homelessness in Santa Cruz on any given night.

The politicians do not want their laws challenged outside their official realms like the city council chambers or the court system. However, the politicians do not want their laws challenged within their official realms, either.

Santa Cruz County Sheriff Wowak made this clear to a reporter for the Sentinel, "Our goal was to avoid taxing the judicial system, but I think at this point the crowd wants this type of process to occur, unfortunately."

On Sunday morning, the moral among the protesters was very high, according to a tweet from the camp. "Peace Camp 2010 lives and others are already returning. Estimate 15 people and two dogs on site. WE ARE NOT AFRAID !!"

Collette defiantly, though desperately, sits next to her cane on the steps of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse in violation of the City's Blanket Ban, officially known as M.C. 6.36.010 section (b), which states that she is "camping" by wrapping herself with a blanket.

(b) Setting-up Bedding – 11 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. To establish or maintain outdoors or in, on or under any structure not intended for human occupancy, at any time between the hours of 11 p.m. to 8:30 a.m., a temporary or permanent place for sleeping, by setting up any bedding, sleeping bag, blanket, mattress, tent, hammock or other sleeping equipment in such a manner as to be immediately usable for sleeping purposes.

Chris Doyan was arrested the night before and said that he had not slept in 48 hours. He said that he was kept in the County Building tunnel, seen three photos, for four hours without access to a bathroom, and then spent three hours in a cold jail cell.

A half dozen sheriff's deputies picked through the items to determine if they were trash to be discarded, belongings to be saved and potentially claimed by their owners, or returnable, such as CVS shopping carts.

Curbhugger Chris Doyon reported he got pneumonia while in jail early Saturday morning. If the deputy pressure and wake-up's continue, he expects he may have to be hospitalized.

He also noted that on Sunday morning, deputies continued to wake him up at the protest after he fell asleep from exhaustion, but refused to cite or arrest him. They continued to warn him that he was "violating the law", but wouldn't cite him, causing some to think that they didn't want to add to the increasing number of 647e misdemeanor trials (assuming the D.A. actually takes these cases to trial--which is unlikely).

Repeatedly waking someone (particularly someone sick) is not only dangerous to the health of the person concerned, but also a standard "interrogation" technique. It is also a standard form of torture.

PeaceCamp2010 activists and supporters visited the Sunday show of the S.F. MIme Troupe today, wondering if spectator liberals would pay some attention to a real struggle happening half a block away to establish basic civil rights for poor people in the community who have no legal place to sleep.

In the past, the local ACLU has refused to take on the issue, though other ACLU's throughout the state have. Mayor Mike Rotkin is on the local ACLU Board of Directors and is frequent fundraiser spokesperson for the group. Vice-Mayor Coonerty is also a high-profile member who received the "Lion of Justice" award from the ACLU, even though his law banning public assemblies in downtown public parking lots was opposed by the ACLU. See "Keeping Santa Cruz Weird: Coonerty Gets 'Hammer of Justice' Award from Local ACLU" at http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/08/29/18530949.php

Quote "Curbhugger Chris Doyon reported he got pneumonia while in jail early Saturday morning. If the deputy pressure and wake-up's continue, he expects he may have to be hospitalized." For someone who claims to be a longtime traveler (homeless by his choice), he sure does have a weak constitution. I highly doubt he contracted pneumonia in that short time of time . This guy appears to be a bigger drama/media whore than Robert Norse. His actions will have a long term affect on those who really need assistance in Santa Cruz. He gives a bad name to those who are truly homeless. Stop using him as your new Poster Child for HUFF.